The Color Of Contagion

 American Thinker  

"Historians have devoted generations to Christopher Gadsden’s coiled rattlesnake and his warning, “Don’t Tread on Me.” Yet no surviving document answers my question: Why yellow?"

"Today, Elon Musk warns Americans of a woke “mind virus,” the destructive ideologies spreading through censored societies much like contagious diseases—“the woke mind virus is pushing civilization towards suicide” and is “arguably one of the greatest threats to modern civilization.”

"Whatever one’s political perspective, the EU’s communication pattern in attacking X’s free speech offerings is strikingly familiar to the lead-up to the American Revolution, when European bureaucrats believed certain American ideas were so dangerous that their spread must be censored, or at least quarantined to North America.

"Indeed, in the years preceding the Revolution, British officials and Loyalists also described colonial freedoms and their resistance to the King in the language of contagion. The “spirit of rebellion” was spreading from colony to colony, infecting minds and threatening the stability of the Empire. Loyalist writers decried how “the violent Spirit in the Whigs… raged with… unbridled Fury,” while officials warned of rebellion as a contagion that could lead to “total Ruin and Destruction.”

"The concern went beyond protests over taxes or Parliament. The greater fear in Britain was that the underlying idea of self-government might prove contagious.

"Only a generation earlier, Britain had watched disease devastate its Caribbean expeditions against Spain, where tropical illnesses destroyed armies on a scale that shocked the Empire, altered imperial strategy, and contributed to political upheaval in London.

"For Britain’s Atlantic leadership, contagion was not merely a medical problem. It had become a strategic one. This observation led me to reconsider one of the most recognizable flags in American history." . . .More...

Democrats lost their way

Mamdani tells us how much he hates America on its 250th birthday

This guy doesn't love or cherish America. What he loves is power, the power to wield it against ordinary Americans and the capacity to bend and change this country to his socialist ideal, making it something it is not, something very like the third world socialism he left behind. That leaves scoldings and lectures to normal Americans. Thank goodness he will never become president.

But we can elect that Thunbergian scold Liz Warren, should she run.. 

. . . "What an appalling speech the Mayor of New York delivered for the 250th anniversary of the nation.
Sadly, it reflects the view of America propagated for years by Howard Zinn and his like-minded colleagues in the universities and believed by armies of the young: a dark, oppressive…  — Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) July 3, 2026

For Mamdani, America's 'greatness' comes from its money- Monica Showalter

"Marxism and third world resentment are no way to understand America, son."

Democrats move further to the left.

Liberal Town Elects All Muslim City Council

Why Democrats Lost Their Way

"Whether the Democrat Party can muster the courage to once again be responsible to the wider public it has always claimed to represent is the great domestic political question of our time."

Bill Clinton's July 4th Post Proves the Democratic Party Is Truly Done . . ." But if there was a real sign of how far the Democrats have gone off the leftist cliff, it might be the letter that former president Bill Clinton posted on Saturday. Remember, this is Clinton, who, on a relative scale with Democrats moving so far left, is now often remembered as a moderate." 

Did Democrats condemn Hamas? At least 40 babies, some beheaded, found by Israel soldiers in Hamas-attacked village

Congress members wearing the Hamas keffiyeh supporting those who did this sit on the Democrat side in the Capitol, their faces twisted in anger when President Trump addresses Congress.

 

,500 Drones! Fourth of July Drone Show for America's 250th

Sky Elements Drone Shows

"Sky Elements flew a 2,500-drone show in North Richland Hills, Texas to kickoff the nation's Fourth of July celebrations. The show featured formations including George Washington, Uncle Sam, Artemis II, and a pyro drone bald eagle. Subscribe for more Fourth of July drone show content!"

’Supergirl’ Review: Steel Yourself For a DC Disappointment

ScreenCrush

"Superman and Supergirl share a home planet but not an origin. Superman’s parents shipped him off to Earth as a baby. Supergirl wasn’t even born until after Krypton was destroyed. She remembers it (or at least the ruins of it where she grew up), and remains haunted by its loss. Far more of a stranger in a strange land than Superman, she can’t quite figure out where she belongs. Is she Kara Zor-El of Krypton or Supergirl of Earth?

"The character’s new film suffers from a similar split personality. At times, Supergirl assumes the form of a quirky space adventure filled with colorful aliens and broad comedy. At others, it’s a grim character study about orphans and trauma set in a world of misery, radiation poisoning, and alien sex trafficking. These two halves do not remotely mesh together, and as a result, neither does Supergirl.

"This is particularly disappointing because the new DC Universe got off to such a promising start with last year’s Superman. Milly Alcock’s Supergirl cameoed in that film, and was so instantly likable in her brief screen time that it set high expectations that her spinoff doesn’t come close to matching. That’s despite the presence of Superman’s biggest scene-stealer — the rambunctious super-dog Krypto — and even the Man of Steel himself, played by David Corenswet in a small but important supporting role.

"Sadly, Corenswet’s appearances only serve as an unwelcome reminder of what a firm handle Superman writer/director James Gunn has on that character and his timeless appeal. Supergirl comes up frustratingly short in capturing the essence of his cousin." . . .   More...

The 'Sophie Cunningham Pointing' Meme

Who Really Are These New Democratic Socialists and Their Fellow Travelers? › American Greatness

 Victor Davis Hanson  

"In sum, Democratic socialism is a top-down movement run by insulated elites who have little understanding of—or genuine interest in—the lives of millions of ordinary Americans living outside the walls of their parochial cloisters."

"Who are the so-called Democratic Socialists of America and their fellow travelers?

"While it is difficult to generalize, many current and would-be socialist officeholders share several common traits.

"Most of them represent a relatively small slice of American life. Almost all are urban, with little knowledge of small-town or rural existence.

"Their world is subways, buses, high-rises, Uber, taxis, and proximity to corporate, academic, and financial institutions—yet often with little understanding of where their food, fuel, water, or everyday goods originate, or where their waste and sewage ultimately go.

"Their worldview is shaped more by consumption than production, as though goods simply arrive in and depart from cities on autopilot.

"A disproportionate number of our most prominent radicals are either first- or second-generation immigrants, most originating from failed or illiberal states in what was once called the Third World.

"They or their parents left their homelands in search of wealthier countries, fairer societies, greater opportunity, and, in many cases, safety and freedom.

"Yet once here, many of their families have prospered, often aided by extensive educational and institutional support from the generous American host.

"Few have even tried to explain the paradox of fleeing failed states, only to become virulent critics of the charitable nation that they chose to join.

"Many are college-educated, often with degrees in fields that did not translate into the professional pathways they believed they were entitled to.

"They are often glib but otherwise poorly educated. Few possess any real grounding in history, literature, or the STEM fields.

"Most of their major and minor courses of study are in the social sciences—political science, sociology, psychology, community relations, and the like—or the infamous “studies” programs.

"When they graduate from left-wing universities, they emerge strikingly arrogant and ignorant at once. As elite radical egalitarians, they proudly brandish their degrees and constantly reference their university training. Yet for all the time and money poured into college during what were supposed to be the best years of their lives, prolonged adolescence and bitterness appear epidemic among the new young socialists.

"In college, they rubbed elbows with leftist elites—wealthy students, tenured professors, and lavishly paid administrators. " . . . More...

Dear America, Happy 250th. No Hard Feelings!

"America and Britain have often argued, but we have also shown the world that former adversaries can become allies without pretending the past never happened

Dr. Andrew J. Fox › American Greatness  

"Two countries. One remarkable friendship. Happy 250th, America. No hard feelings. And if anyone would like to celebrate with a proper cup of tea, I will even bring the kettle. Please, however, do not microwave the water. Some wounds take longer than 250 years to heal." 

 "Few experiences are quite as surreal as being a Brit living in America while the nation prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of declaring independence from—well. . . us.

"It is a little like being invited to your ex’s golden wedding anniversary. You are genuinely pleased they’ve done well, but every now and then someone stands up, raises a glass, and reminds the room why they left.

"Every Fourth of July, I find myself in a curious position. My neighbors set off fireworks with the enthusiasm of medieval artillery officers. Children wave stars and stripes. Someone is inevitably grilling enough meat to feed a small European nation. Then comes the reading of the Declaration of Independence, a magnificent piece of political writing, even if, from my side of the Atlantic, it still sounds like a rather strongly worded letter.

'"As an Englishman, I have learned not to take it personally. Truly, I have.

"Britain has had 250 years to recover. We have moved on. Mostly. We even stopped referring to the colonies as that little misunderstanding across the Atlantic, much like Benjamin Franklin’s sarcasm in pretending to advise Britain on how to lose its American colonies.

"Besides, every nation needs an origin story, and America’s is unusually clear: a date, a document, and a collection of determined gentlemen who decided that taxation without representation had become intolerable.

"Britain’s story is somewhat less tidy. We began somewhere in the fog of Roman roads, Saxon villages, Viking raids, Norman castles, civil wars, royal family drama, and enough constitutional improvisation to keep historians employed forever. America, by contrast, tells its story with fireworks, flags, speeches, and parades. It is loud, sincere, sentimental, and occasionally covered in barbecue sauce. In other words, it is gloriously American.

"Speaking of cultural differences, I have discovered that no divide is quite as profound as watching an American microwave water for tea and then drink it from a foam cup. There are moments when my British instincts feel less patriotic than missionary. Even George Orwell agrees with me. I have tried to explain that tea is not merely a beverage. It is a civilization. Still, America has forgiven Britain for King George III, so I suppose I can forgive America for the microwave." . . .  More...

Newsom, Biden, Pelosi: are there good Democrats anywhere?

Mr. Irrelevant: Bitter Newsom Tries to Rain on Nation's Birthday, Quickly Flattened by His Own Troubles 

"There are just a couple of problems with his diatribe: Trump has been cleaning up D.C. and is making it safe again, stopping the tsunami of Biden-era illegal immigration, and showing that we actually can have nice things if we simply do things right."

"It felt like former President Joe Biden’s famous “Red Speech” circa September 2022, when he told a Philadelphia crowd that “equality and democracy are under assault” and that “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”

"The stage was bathed in dramatic, dark-red hues reminiscent of fascist regimes. Like, say, the Nazis. 

"As I wrote at the time, it was a “foaming, vitriolic, vengeful speech that seemed designed to pull our nation further apart and inflame the more than 73 million Americans who voted for his opponent in the last election.”

"California’s failed governor Gavin Newsom, meanwhile, picked a very special day to deliver his own spiteful, malignant view of America — the nation’s 250th birthday. His eight-minute July 4 speech on Saturday didn’t mention the widespread decline seen under his watch, nor the suffering his “progressive” policies have brought to the citizens of the Golden State (many of whom are leaving).

No, it was all about Trump, and how much he hates the man, even though the president is not responsible for the slow, agonizing death of California that has occurred under one-party Democratic rule:" . . .

Exclusive | FBI infiltrated Gavin Newsom's inner circle by convincing governor's ally to wear a wire: lawyer

Gavin Newsom when he found out his inside ally was wearing a wire.

Gavin Newsom when he found out his inside ally was wearing a wire. 🤣
The dude is toast. pic.twitter.com/SpsjAwSe3d

— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) July 3, 2026

HOLY CRAP JAMES O'KEEFE DID IT.

And we all wondered how we get politicians like Karen Bass and Kamala Harris. Is this how Gavin Newsom escaped being impeached back in the day?

Liberal Hivemind   "This is what I have been trying, for years, to explain to people who keep telling me "California got what it voted for." No, no we didn't. We DON'T vote for this shit, just once California A) gave driver's licenses to illegals, and B) gave unrestricted unlimited mail in ballots, we've had a Democrat "supermajority." A real coincidence, don't you think?"

American Education Is in Almost Irredeemable Decline; No child left un-radicalized.

 The American Spectator  

"And we wonder, when the moral and intellectual rot infects every level of a system which should have become a marketplace, if not an industry, 100 years ago or more, why we’re setting record levels of money on fire to produce armies of Darializa Avila Chevaliers and Laura Pinhos." 

"I know, I know. The first half-dozen comments under this piece will provide the criticism that I shouldn’t use mealy-mouthed words like “almost” in a headline like the above.

Which is another way of saying that among the American Spectator’s readership, there isn’t a lot of dissent to the idea that our educational system, from bottom to top, has gone to seed.

"I will defend the use of “almost” only by noting that there are still educational institutions out there providing quality instruction. In virtually every city of size, there are at least a handful of options where kids won’t be indoctrinated into the kind of anti-American woke stupidity that has become virtually omnipresent in the public schools. And of course, there is the burgeoning panoply of resources available to homeschoolers, which stands as the silver lining to the mess we’re in.

"So I’ve now provided the justification for my hedge. And we can move on.

"To saying that the education system, chiefly in the public sector but certainly not limited to it, is beginning to calcify as a fundamental, existential threat to the American way of life.

"I could regale you with polling data and statistics showing the cavernous ignorance that our schools are infecting our youth with, but you almost certainly already know these things.

. . . "Darializa Avila Chevalier is about as total a poster child for American education as there is, given that she’s 32 years old and has never not been in school, including more than 14 years of post-secondary education, and with every utterance, she demonstrates that she knows literally less than nothing.

"And Chevalier has studied largely at competitive institutions — most notably Columbia — which at one time were known as centers of learning.

"Now Columbia produces communist Dominicans with genocidal attitudes toward Jews.

"And those lunatics with functionally room-temperature IQs are celebrated by fellow “highly-educated” and privileged urbanites in cities like New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Los Angeles." . . .More...

Scott McKay is a contributing editor at The American Spectator  and publisher of the Hayride, which offers news and commentary on Louisiana and national politics, and RVIVR.com, a national political news aggregation and opinion site.

For America 250, reject Mamdani’s narrative of American oppression

 

Washington Examiner

"Embrace the story of innovation and opportunity that stems from a exceptional nation whose fate was kissed by Almighty God. Live your resistance to socialist ideals. Participate in every level of representative government from school boards to town councils to Capitol Hill."

"A few years before World War I, the man who I am named for left a remote corner of the sprawling Russian Empire and hopped a steamship across the Atlantic Ocean.

"It's lost in family lore and century-old records whether my great-grandfather left Eastern Europe as Alexander Zhdanov, Alexander Zhdanowski, or something else entirely. Yet from shortly after he landed on Ellis Island until the day he died, he was Alexander Zdan.

"My great-grandfather embraced his new nation. He opened a tailor shop. He raised a family who respected and revered American traditions like independence, service, and humility. He contributed. He assimilated.

"Alexander Zdan stood in stark contrast to the petty spite of Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the destructive future his socialist horde aspires to.

"Mamdani's July 3 speech, delivered without irony behind George Washington's desk and using recent immigrants as props, was insulting, historically illiterate, and deceptively radical. It attempted to erase our founding facts in place of a narrative that paints the American nation as a hostile oppressor to be conquered.

"George Washington was the last to leave Brooklyn," Mamdani's retelling of the August 1776 Battle of Brooklyn Heights went. "With the sun beginning its rise, he would have looked over the waters and seen what so many have seen in the 250 years since." . . .

. . . "This Independence Day, reject Mamdani's vision of a predator empire. Embrace the story of a country — never perfected, but greater than any other — whose Founders' command is to reject the very ideological shackles of guilt and rage he seeks to use for submission." . . .

More...

Alex Zdan is a former Republican candidate for the United States Senate in New Jersey and the founder of the Authentic Leadership PAC.

Shock poll reveals which flags Dems rank above American, Trump flags

"Democrats are more likely to give you a thumbs up for displaying a Black Lives Matter flag than an American flag, according to a new YouGov survey."

HOLY SMOKES. Spencer Pratt just OBLITERATED Communist Ugandan Mayor Mamdani for 5 minutes straight      “F--K YOU, COMMUNIST! This is OUR HOME and YOU CAN’T HAVE IT.” “Commie Mamdani’s ancestors NEVER BLED FOR THIS COUNTRY. He has no history here. So he has no attachment to our home. He has no place to rewrite our history and lecture us about what our country stands for!” “We aren’t cowards. We don’t turn our backs on the painful memories because they make us who we are. Be proud of our country, damn it!” “We all had to sit and watch that vile commie mayor sit on the wrong side of our founding father’s desk to try and lecture us about our own history!” “Notice how the communists always attacks your history. The communists must attack YOUR history.”  

“Why? Because history is what anchors you. It’s what makes us attached to something.” “Erasing history is how you demoralize people, how you unmoor them, and detach them from their society, so you can take it from them and rewrite it in your image!”  . . .

Complete Guide to Petersburg National Battlefield

Debacle at Petersburg: The Battle of the Crater: An Interview with A. Wilson Greene

Park Ranger John  

. . . "The Siege of Petersburg was not a siege in the traditional sense of the word.

"It was a series of battles, raids, and skirmishes centered in and around the defensive entrenchments that surrounded Petersburg. Ironically, a lengthy siege was what General Ulysses S. Grant was trying to avoid.

"The Union first attempted to take Petersburg from the Confederates on the 9th of June, when union forces crossed the James River under cover of night.

"This early attempt at taking Petersburg failed, as did the second. During both of the battles for Petersburg, the confederate line held firm in the trenches.

"For Grant, the only option was to gain ground piece by piece, which meant taking sections of the trenches in each offensive or skirmish. Grant knew he had a superior number of forces to Lee.

"If Grant could succeed in cutting off Lee’s access to resources and dwindle his forces even further, one final push would then be enough to defeat the Confederate army.

"During the nine and a half months that followed, the two sides engaged in trench warfare. At the beginning of June, Lee had 20 000 men against the Union's 67 000, yet the Confederate army held on despite being outnumbered.

"If one defensive line fell, they moved back and reinforced. The Union could gain ground, only to be halted and pinned down by heavy Confederate fire. Grant and his generals had to change their approach because of this characteristic of trench warfare." . . .

Full article here:...

Debacle at Petersburg: The Battle of the Crater: An Interview with A. Wilson Greene – The Gettysburg Compiler

Debunking the American Left’s Favorite Lie

 The American Spectator  

"The American Left does so because charging others with their own crimes leads to moral relativism, which serves to absolve them of their wrongs. By charging everyone with the Left’s own crimes, then all are guilty."

But a fascist tattoo is fine.

   "The American Left’s most favorite lie is that Nazis and Fascists were conservatives. They were not; instead, they were cut from the same socialist cloth that America’s Left idolizes and increasingly personifies. The reason for the Left’s false equation of Nazis and Fascists with conservatism is that America’s Left needs it to advance their ends — and, as in the case of Democrats’ Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner’s Nazi tattoo, they want America to ignore the obvious.

   "It is difficult to single out one lie from the American Left’s myriad. The one proclaiming that this time they can make socialism work — despite it failing in every other attempt and in every time in every other place — is certainly useful. The one promising that giving all power to the state will somehow make people freer comes in handy, too.

   "However, the lie America’s Left tells with the most relish and gusto is that Nazis and Fascists come from the Right of the political spectrum rather than from within the Left’s own ranks. They say this because, in addition to needing it to be true, America’s Left so want it to be true. Of course, as with the rest of the American Left’s myriad of lies, it is not only not true but demonstrably false.

    "It is a historical fact that Nazis and Fascists were socialists. In the case of “Nazi,” simply look at its etymological root. It is short for “Nationalsozialist,” itself short for the Nationalsozialistische deutsche Arbeitpartei (NSDAP), which translates to National Socialist German Workers’ Party.

   "However, the connection is much stronger than the name alone. The Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises writes in his 20th-century monograph, Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis: “Marxism and National-Socialism agree in … rejecting the capitalist social order. Both desire a socialist order of society. The only difference in their programme (sic) lies in slight variations in their respective pictures of the future socialist State.” Continuing: “It is important to realize that Fascism and Nazism were socialist dictatorships.”

   "Specifically addressing the Fascists, von Mises writes: “Fascism… was a variety of Italian socialism … Nobody could surpass Mussolini in Marxian zeal. He was the intransigent champion of the pure creed.”  And on the Nazis: “The philosophy of the Nazis, the German Nationalist Socialist Labour Party, is the purest and most consistent manifestation of the anti-capitalistic and socialist spirit of our age.” . . .More...